Re: hdparm and removable IDE?

[John Bradford]

> Just one general comment, though. I believe it would be a very big coup 
> for Linux if this feature (hot-swap IDE) were built into Linux properly. 
> These big HDs are getting cheap, and the ability to back-up entire 
> systems, send truly huge image and sound files to colleagues, etc., make 
> this a really high-potential medium. A concrete *feature* like this 
> would really speak to less knowledgeable users than some of the more 
> technical developments, vital though they are.

I agree.

Something that occurs to me - if a machine has non hot-swap capable
IDE hardware, but has suspend to RAM functionality, presumably it is
OK from an electronic viewpoint to swap disks?  What about PCI hot
swap?  Presumably we can remove a non hot-swap IDE controller
completely, and re-install it with different drives connected?

In other words, perhaps IDE hot swap capable equipment is not
completely a pre-requisite to make use of IDE hot swap from the kernel
point of view.

John.